Writhing Angel
by gDeIpVhIrNoEtt
Summary: The night when the legend became a hero gone wrong. Narration of the Mt. Nibel reactor scene in Crisis Core. Major spoilers and rated T for angst and slight violence.


**WARNING: This is a narration of the reactor scene in the game where ****  
Sephiroth learns everything about the JENOVA project. I do not own the characters, the plot (except for some added dialogues) or the game.  
**

Sephiroth shook uncontrollably, the tears streaming down slowly and painfully from his face as if they were acid. Out of mercy, Zack kept a respectable distance and gave him some space.

"Ever since I was a child, I could sense it. I knew from the beginning that I was different from other people .but why ? Why does it have to be .in this way ? Why ..was I different .like this?" Sephiroth wailed a bit. Am I Am I even human? His voice was so different; so alien. It was so vulnerable and so pitiful, like the howl of an eternally starved wolf. It was a voice that sent a pang of sadness and sympathy to the teenager s heart. . He tried to think. He tried to come up with something to say. He tried to comfort his friend. But as he kept racking and racking his brain for something, anything, the sooner he realized that he couldn t help him.

He just _couldn't_.

Zack was crushed, not knowing exactly what he should do. A deafening silence came.

Then a familiar voice sang, greeting them in the most unpleasant way.

"No such luck, my friend. You are nothing ..but a monster ."

Before Zack could even blink, he felt something burning at his stomach. Sephiroth, despite his weakened fragile state he was still able to dodge it by only raising a finger. Fire materia? Anyone would know that it couldn t be anyone but Genesis. The brown-haired (which was now a bit grey due to degradation) SOLDIER landed on the reactor s stairway, his heeled boots booming like thunder to the other two's ears.

"You were born out of the Jenova Project .and you were the greatest monster of all ," he waved his gloved hand for emphasis. Zack struggled to remain conscious, trying to elevate his wound and apply pressure to it. Between gasps and desperate struggles for breath, he cried out, Genesis I knew you were alive! Zack was kind of happy to see him his mere voice made him feel as if he was being pulled away from the insane black hole he was pulled in ever since they arrived at Nibelheim. Zack yelled at him, and Genesis greeted him with his same playful smile that was always up to something specifically evil and mischievous. Hi, puppy , his mouth moved to form the words. It was barely audible, but it was there. I m alive? In my current condition, how can you still say that ? He looked at his hand, waved his short brown (now nearly grey) hair with a vain look on his face, and dusted off his pale red coat. But no matter how hard he dusted it, no dust came and it still wasn t clean: degradation.

Zack also noticed that Genesis sapphire eyes no longer glowed. Genesis caressed and caressed his face, smoothly. He was wearing a terribly smug and disgusting expression that Zack thought he was going to throw up. Plus he had to deal with his wound. Sephiroth s voice was a bit stronger this time, but still anyone could see that he was still crying. "What does the Jenova Project have to do with me?!" He couldn t even keep his temper anymore, even if it was Genesis whom he was talking with. Genesis, his friend..

When Genesis maintained a constant silence, Sephiroth harshly yelled at him to answer, in his General of the Shinra Army Tone. The redhead hastily answered, but he was still reluctant.

"The Jenova Project was an experiment that used Jenova s cells."

"Using ..mother s cells?"

Genesis opened his arms, as if Sephiroth was his long-lost child and he himself was the mother who longed to embrace him again. Pitiful Sephiroth ..so lost, so confused. He put down his arms and sat down. You only heard her name, right? His voice was unbearably taunting, and it was plain clear that he was teasing Sephiroth, only that it was serious and he really wanted his friend to feel bad. For the first time in his life, Zack felt very grateful that Sephiroth didn t come along in Modeoheim, during Angeal s death when Hollander spilled nearly everything .. I don t know what images you ve played with in your mind .but I ll be honest , he continued, despite Zack s pleads for him to stop. If only Zack wasn t hurt by the Fire materia, the first thing he would do was muffle the redhead s mouth. He knew that it would be bad if Sephiroth knows everything. "Sephiroth feared being a monster most of all. After his unhappy and traumatic laboratory childhood with that psyche Hojo? After all the pain he was forced to go through thanks to weekly mako injections? But that was nothing the fear deepened even more uncontrollably when he saw what happened to his two precious best friends. Sephiroth he couldn t afford to know everything! Just think of what Sephiroth would do. He might destroy galaxies," Zack thought to himself.

"From what I know, Jenova is a stratum discovered 2000 years ago." Genesis .stop! Genesis ignored the puppy. A .a monster."

That made Sephiroth burst again. Zack crawled to him and stealthily took away his sword in order to ensure everyone s safety. The brown-haired SOLDIER chuckled, then those convulsions melted in to a greater, wholesome wicked laugh. His voice became tainted, full of anger and hatred.

"Sephiroth ..exactly how long did it take you to realize? We were just pawns; pawns Shinra played with! Pawns the Shinra scientists, Hojo, and Hollander used for their experiments." How Genesis and Sephiroth hated that word: experiment. "We were nothing .but test subjects! Those dreams, that honor, the pride we had they were just illusions from our own foolish imagination. Dreamless, heartless, shameful, humiliated, in the end, this is our fate. We are monsters. Monsters. Monsters who have no place in this world. The goddess will never answer our prayers. We will be welcome nowhere except hell. We are not human."

It was silent. Genesis took it as an invitation to continue. "We were all being used by Shinra. They just created us .infused us with alien cells .made us superior ..for their own sake, so that we could carve their will with our strength. Impose their authority on the planet, by eliminating those who oppose them." He spat (gracefully), disgusted at the thought. You, Angeal, me , then he turned to Zack, who gasped. ..and Zack the puppy. Ever since, we all knew that the whole organization was corrupted. We all knew how horrible Shinra is. Everyone knew that, from the President to the lowest cadet. I bet Shinra s laughing at us now. I bet Hojo and Hollander are proud at what monsters we have morphed into. Those maniacs, those freaks, those mad scientists! They don t know how we feel."

Sephiroth and Zack just stood motionless as statues, not knowing how to react or what to do.

"Sephiroth .lend me your strength ," Genesis told him, changing the topic. "Your superior cells will help me stop my degradation. He raised his voice and began pacing around. SOLDIER 1st class Sephiroth! Angeal was born out of Jenova Project G. Just like me, born as a monster. Jenova Project S was a project created to make a perfect monster. What can I do ? Genesis replied hastily. You can t create clones like me and Angeal. Nor does the gene spread. In other words, you won t degrade." Genesis smiled ear to ear, a smile that was envious. "Lend me your cells ," he continued. "My friend, your desire .is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess." With that, the silver-haired General got a hold of himself.

Genesis held out his hand, revealing a dumbapple. He faced Sephiroth.

Sephiroth whispered, "Are you are you trying to confuse me with everything you ve just said ? Or is it the truth that I ve been searching for all this time? Whichever it is, go rot." The smile was erased from his face instantly when Sephiroth took away the dumbapple, dropping it on the reactor floor on purpose. Genesis caressed his hand. "As expected .of a true monster." Zack could tell that he, too, was about to cry.

"The end of the world is brought by the duel of the beasts; The Goddess shall fall from the darkest sky. Spreading her wings of light and darkness, she shall lead us to our paradise...along with her gift." Genesis started to walk out of the reactor. Zack yelled after him, but all he gave the puppy was a smirk.

"Mom... Aerith...Angeal ..I want to save _my friends_ ," he dared to think.


End file.
